I was just a kid – or not even born – when many of the Greatest Westerns Stars who ever lived had already rode off into the sunset – or died. So I missed a hell of lot of good Westerns from the 30’s, 40’s and even the 50’s. Still haven’t seen most of them. This blog is pretty well a research project for me on a lot of them – trying to discover Western Movie history – and their Stars.

So … I found this pic from When the Daltons Rode (1940) on the net the other day. I looked at the riders … but didn’t recognize any of them?

Can you?

I’ll give you ten plugged nickels and my spurs if you get 2 right.
And they were all well known Actors of their day and beyond.

????

OK … from Left to Right …Stuart Erwin,Andy Devine, Broderick Crawford, and Brian Donlevy.

“I’ve made upwards of a million bucks in the cops-and-robbers business.”

Brian Donlevy / (1901-1972)as Grat Dalton

Oh Yeah … Randolph Scott was the Star of the movie.as Tod Jackson

No Trailer available – but some clips exist on YouTube.

On this poster though, Crawford’simage is bigger?

Yet on the screen we see Randolph at the top …

and Broderick 5th on the Bill ???
*shrug*

Director George Marshall(1891 –1975)

A rather odd movie: (Spoiler Alert) LoL – We all know the Daltons don’t ride off
into the sunset, but much of the movie is played out as a comedy? – interspersed with other nonsense – such as romance. (LoL)
Even Yakima Canutt reprises his famous Stagecoach stunt.
But in the end a fun yarn to watch …
and historically accurate (as we know it) in it’s wrap up.

13 Responses to “When the Daltons Rode / 1940 Part 1”

That poster which gives such prominence to Crawford would have been for a reissue of the movie, some time after Crawford had picked up his Oscar for All the King’s Men and so would have been in the headlines. A neat little movie, by the way.

When I saw who those guys were I remembered them well. But I was amazed how far back some of them go. Like Devine. Devine has a hell of Western legacy – having been in Stagecoach and Liberty Valance – two Classics – among others.
There were many entertaining Westerns from that early era that most of us folks don’t know about.

Won’t ask for your plugged nickels and spurs, JC. I’m old enough to remember all 4 at one glance. Stu Erwin had one of the earliest sitcoms on TV, suit and tie white collar father. Andy Devine probably is the only one of the 4 that was a steady western actor. ‘Brod’ Crawford had a TV series called Highway Patrol, and he won Best Actor for playing Huey Long in ‘All the King’s Men’, strong movie, excellent acting. Donlevy had a life that could have used for several movies. He also had a popular TV show, Dangerous Assignment.
Like I said, none of them were really western actors per se except for Devine from Kingman, Arizona. John Ford said he never thought of Devine as even an ordinary actor. He cast him in Stagecoach because he was the only one around that could actually a stagecoach.

Thanks Don. I recall a anecdote whereby Ford insulted Devine (he insulted lots of folks I guess!) saying something like he wondered why he had Devine around. Devine shut him up by saying something like “Cuz I’m the only Actor you got who can handle a team of horses.” He was genuine. Thanks for the info on Crawford, Erwin and Donlevy. I remember them all and have seen there impressive and extensive work over the years. But in the pic Devine and Brod are so young I didn’t recognize them. I shoulda got Donlevy though. Shame on me. My plugged nickels are around here somewhere – but I might need my spurs to find ’em.